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Sunday, 9 February 2014

Jim's column 8.2.14

Tony Hateley
(13.6.1941 - 1.2.2014)

Tony Hateley who passed
away last weekend was from the old school of centre-forwards in the
mould of Tommy Lawton & famed for his heading ability. He played
for seven Football league sides, including two spells at Notts County
& his transfers generated fees of £400,000, then a British
record. He only spent one year at Highfield Road but left his mark on
the club's history.

Born in Derby he
attended Normanton Junior School where he towered above his
class-mates. His height helped him win the Derbyshire Schools High
jump title & become a formidable centre-half in schools football.
Joining Notts County as a 17-year old apprentice he was converted to
a centre-forward after netting five goals in a reserve game and soon
after scored on his first team debut. Towards the end of the 1959-60
season he became the regular centre-forward and eight goals in ten
games helped clinch County's promotion to Division Three.

In the higher division
he excelled & netted 70 goals over the next three seasons but
scored only twice in six games against Coventry. His tussles against
the City captain George Curtis were legendary & generally George
came off on top except for a 2-0 defeat at Meadow Lane when
'Big-Tone' scored both goals. In 1962-63 he was paired up-front with
another young striker, Jeff Astle and between them they netted 30
goals in the final 25 games. A move to a higher level was inevitable
& in the summer of 1963 First Division Aston Villa, managed by
Joe Mercer, paid £22,000 for his signature. Ironically his
replacement at County was Terry Bly, jettisoned by Jimmy Hill to make
way for George Hudson. Bly turned out to be a flop & County were
relegated that season.

At Villa Park Tony was
an immediate hit, returning to Nottingham to score a debut winner at
Forest & netting 19 goals in a poor Villa team in his first
season. In 1964-65 he & Curtis came face to face again as Second
Division City travelled to Villa Park for a Third round FA Cup tie.
Villa were again struggling in the league & 20,000 City fans made
the short trip anticipating a Sky Blue victory. Hateley had other
ideas & scored two goals in the 3-0 victory. The following season
he was amongst the goals again & netted four second half goals as
Villa came from 5-1 down at Tottenham to draw 5-5. Tony's 86 goals
were the main reason for Villa staying in the First Division for
those three seasons & it was no surprise when they were relegated
the year after he left.

In 1966 Chelsea manager
Tommy Docherty paid a club record £100,000 to sign him as a
replacement for Peter Osgood who had broken his leg. Osgood's stylish
play suited Chelsea's skilful passing game & Hateley struggled to
adapt his game where he wanted the crosses and long balls for his
deadly forehead. As a result he scored only six league goals but did
score the winning goal (what else but a header) as Chelsea beat Leeds
in the FA Cup semi final at Villa Park. At Wembley a Dave Mackay
inspired Spurs were too good for Chelsea & Tony had to be content
with a loser's medal.

After just one season
he was on the move again as Liverpool manager Bill Shankly paid a
club record £96,000 for the big man. Shankly didn't make the same
mistake as Docherty and adapted Liverpool's game to accommodate
Hateley and wingers Ian Callaghan & Peter Thompson gave him
such good service that he scored 28 goals. Shankly's one-liners are
legendary but one, possibly apochryal, is when Docherty defended
Hateley with the line: 'You have to admit Bill he was good in the
air'. Shankly supposedly replied: 'Aye, so was Douglas Bader & he
had wooden legs'.

Whilst the Kop loved
his towering headers, Shankly ultimately decided that Hateley wasn't
for Liverpool and when Noel Cantwell was rebuffed in his efforts to
buy Newcastle's Wyn Davies he paid £80,000 for Tony. His one -year
stay at City started badly; the day he signed his wife was involved
in a car crash that left her uninjured but shaken up & his
arrival was delayed. He wasn't fully match fit & took seven games
to score his first goal, a trademark header in the last minute to
rescue a League Cup tie against Swindon. The fans waited patiently to
see if Hateley would mesh well with City's other centre-forward, Neil
Martin, who had been dogged by injuries, in a twin strike force. The
two got their chance at Stoke's Victoria Ground in early November in
a thrilling 3-0 victory. Tony scored two first half goals including a
stunning header described by Derek Henderson thus: 'Hateley's ....
opener projected the ball with such force from Machin's diagonal
cross that even a man of (Gordon) Banks' calibre was left helpless'.
That game apart the partnership failed to gel & by Christmas City
languished in the bottom two. An ankle injury kept Tony out for six
weeks & in his absence City's form improved dramatically. Once he
was fit he couldn't get into the side & played just one more game
in a Sky Blue shirt. In August 1969 he joined Second Division
Birmingham City for £72,500 with City grateful to only lose a small
amount after a less than productive five goals in 20 games. He stayed
just over a year at St Andrews, before moving back to Notts County,
now in Division Four, for £20,000. The prodigal son had returned to
Meadow Lane and over 21,000, more than double the average crowd,
watched his debut. His scoring touch returned and he netted 23 goals
as County won the Fourth Division title.

In 1972 he joined
Oldham Athletic, his final English club although he did sign for
Boston Minutemen in 1974 but managed just three games before his
knees gave in & he was forced to retire. He did play some
non-league football until 1979 but was unsuccessful in finding a
coaching job & became a sales rep for a brewery firm. He settled
on Merseyside & worked for the Everton lottery as well as
watching with pleasure as his son Mark came through the Sky Blues
ranks to play over 100 games & go on to play for England in the
late 1980s. Later Mark's son, Tom, became a professional
footballer and was in the Tranmere squad that played at Sixfields
earlier this season.

Tony suffered from
Alzheimer's Disease later in life possibly not helped by heading all
those sodden leather balls in the 1960s.

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About Me

I have supported Coventry City FC since my first visit to Highfield Road in 1962. I am the club's official historian and have a regular column in the Coventry Telegraph. Here I would like to enable my readers who can't buy the paper to access my columns and comment.